NYE telecast causes fireworks

By
Michael Idato

Few would disagree the best vantage point for the New Year's Eve fireworks display is Sydney's harbour foreshore.

But that did not stop an extraordinary 859,000 people in Sydney - roughly one fifth of the city's total population - staying indoors and watching Channel Nine's TV coverage of the fireworks.

The quarter hour segment from midnight to 12.15am on January 1, 2013, drew a total national audience of 1.722 million viewers in Australia's five mainland state capitals.

The city by city breakdowns were Sydney (859,000 viewers), Melbourne (318,000), Brisbane (289,000), Adelaide (152,000) and Perth (104,000).

Metro + regional ratings - that is, ratings which include country areas, the territories and Tasmania as well as the capital cities - are not yet available.

The slighty softer numbers in the capital cities outside Sydney would be due in part to Nine's decision to air the Sydney fireworks nationally, rather than the individual fireworks displays in each city.

That move drew criticism on social networks, notably from Brisbane residents who took to Twitter to vent their frustration with having to watch Sydney's fireworks, and on a one-hour due to daylight savings time.

One Twitter user, @HellYeahKate, summed it up thusly: "Nice work Channel 9, showing the Sydney fireworks at midnight in Brisbane when they happened an hour ago."

In Melbourne, the City of Melbourne NYE Fireworks were broadcast on the Seven Network.

Seven has not released ratings data for that broadcast.

Nine's broadcast was aired in two segments, covering the 9pm and midnight fireworks on Sydney Harbour.

It was hosted by Catriona Rowntree and Jason Dundas and featured Sydney NYE 2012's "creative ambassador" Kylie Minogue, and performances from The X Factor's Reece Mastin, singer Ricki-Lee Coulter, the cast of Legally Blonde and The Voice's Darren Percival.